Cassia was sobbing by the time she left the Serenity Monastery.

She clutched the prayer beads tightly, finally understanding that love could also be silent.

When she returned to the townhouse, Damian and Vivienne were not there.

Cassia paid it no mind, heading straight to her room to clear out her remaining belongings.

She opened the largest closet. Inside, from priceless jewels to handcrafted ceramic dolls, was everything Damian had once used to win her affection.

In those years, Damian had spoiled her into a little princess, a fact known throughout all of New York's elite society.

People used to say that if she asked for Damian’s life, he would carve out his own heart and offer it to her without hesitation.

Perhaps it was because she had heard such talk too often that she once believed she and Damian could truly be together forever.

That was why she had stubbornly made grand declarations of her love year after year, insisting it was not the love of a niece for her uncle.

But in the end, all it earned her was his increasing distance…

Cassia packed these memory-laden items into boxes, one by one.

After disposing of the boxes, she found the butler. “Could you please have everything in my room changed to a black, white, and gray color scheme?”

The butler paused. “Are you trying to emulate the Master?”

Everything of Damian’s was in those three colors. Only Cassia’s bedroom was a princess-pink anomaly in the entire townhouse.

Cassia thought that since she was leaving, this guest room should match the overall style of the house.

Clearly, the butler had misunderstood.

But Cassia didn’t explain. She just nodded. “I suppose so. Thank you for your trouble.”

The butler could only agree.

Just then, Cassia’s phone rang. The caller ID was a Port Sterling number.

She stepped aside to answer it, and a deep male voice came through. “Cassia? It’s your Uncle Don. I heard you’re coming back to Port Sterling to reactivate your dad’s badge number. Is that true?”

The man was her father’s best friend from before he passed. He had even visited her in New York when she was a child.

“It’s true, Uncle Don.” Cassia’s voice held a genuine smile. “I’ll need you to look out for me when I get there.”

Before she could finish, she heard footsteps behind her.

Damian’s cold voice followed immediately. “Who are you talking to?”

Cassia froze for a second, then calmly said her goodbyes to Uncle Don.

Only after hanging up did she turn to answer Damian. “Uncle Don. You know him.”

“My dad’s memorial is coming up. I asked him to light some incense for me, and to look out for things.”

Damian frowned, seeming to have completely forgotten about her father’s memorial.

After a moment of silence, he said, “It’s your father’s memorial. Aren’t you going back to pay your respects?”

Of course, she was going back. This was just a lie she had concocted.

But remembering how Damian used to accompany her on those trips in years past, Cassia asked on a whim, “Will you come with me, Uncle?”

Damian didn’t hesitate. “Not this year. I have to prepare for the wedding.”

He paused, then added, “Next year, I’ll bring Vivienne with me to go with you.”

Of course.

Why did she even ask?

Cassia shook her head, about to say it wasn’t necessary.

Vivienne walked up and took her arm. “Cassia, I’m trying on wedding dresses tomorrow, but I can’t decide on my own. Will you come with me and help me pick one out?”

Cassia had no chance to refuse. The moment Vivienne finished speaking, Damian’s cold, warning gaze shot toward her.

She could only nod and say yes.

The next day. Countdown: 12 days.

Upon arriving at the bridal shop, Vivienne tried on several custom-designed French wedding gowns.

Each one was beautiful, and it made Cassia remember how she, too, had once imagined herself in a wedding dress, marrying Damian.

She had imagined the flowers for the wedding, the vintage of red wine for the guests, and she had even composed her wedding vows—

“Growing up, I didn't have the lasting love of a father or a mother, not a normal family. I always felt like something was missing.”

“But now, standing here, I know I have everything I could ever want. You are my family.”

Cassia silently recited the words in her heart, then froze in place—

Because at that exact moment, Vivienne, standing on the fitting pedestal, spoke those very words to Damian.

Verbatim. Not a single word was different.